The U.S. Department of Labor recovered $300,000 in back wages and damages for workers at a Kentucky coffee shop that diverted tips to management.
The department's Labor Wage and Hour Division found that the operator of Louisville's Heine Brothers coffee shop redistributed tips improperly and diverted workers’ tips to managers. Heine Brothers also failed to keep a record for tips, specifically pennies which it mandated be donated to a charity, violations of minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The agency recovered $150,000 in back wages for 492 workers and an equal amount in liquidated damages.
“The Wage and Hour Division is committed to protecting the rights of workers and ensuring that they receive all the hard-earned wages they rely on to make ends meet,” said Wage and Hour Division District Office Director Karen Garnett-Civils in Louisville. “In this case, our collaboration with the National Conference of Fireman and Oilers provided important help in our efforts to protect the rights of nearly 500 workers whose employer denied them their full wages.”
